John Deere earns recognition as Top 100 Global Innovator

MOLINE, Ill., Dec. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- John Deere has been named a Thomson Reuters 2012 Top 100 Global Innovator. The program honors corporations and institutions that are at the heart of innovation as measured by a series of proprietary patent-related metrics. The list is an initiative of the Intellectual Property Solutions business of Thomson Reuters.

"Meaningful innovation at John Deere is creating product and service solutions that solve real problems and create value for our customers and our company," said Samuel R. Allen, chairman and chief executive officer.

The Top 100 methodology rewards companies in four key areas: overall patent volume, patent grant success rate, global reach of the portfolio, and patent influence as evidenced by citations. The research uses a number of key patent and financial indexes to rank innovative practices in companies around the world.

David Brown, managing director, Thomson Reuters IP Solutions, said, "Innovation is the foundation for economic prosperity and technological advancement. We congratulate the Thomson Reuters 2012 Top 100 Global Innovator companies and their leaders for recognizing the important role innovation plays in the successes of today and of tomorrow."

Thomson Reuters said the 2012 Top 100 Global Innovator companies created additional jobs, performed better in revenue, and invested more in research and development in the past year when compared to other companies.

"Our company began 175 years ago with the innovation of a self-scouring steel plow by our founder John Deere," Allen said. "We invest in innovation to help our customers continue to be highly productive. For example, we have grown our capabilities in the past six years from a single North American corporate R&D center to five Global Technology Innovation Centers."

Allen said that Deere benefits from the competitive strength of enterprise-wide innovation as a key component of fulfilling the company's business strategy and sustaining profitable growth through differentiation.

The Top 100 list represents a diversity of industries. The full report is available on the internet at www.top100innovators.com.

Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) is a world leader in providing advanced products and services and is committed to the success of customers whose work is linked to the land - those who cultivate, harvest, transform, enrich and build upon the land to meet the world's dramatically increasing need for food, fuel, shelter and infrastructure. Since 1837, John Deere has delivered innovative products of superior quality built on a tradition of integrity. For more information, visit John Deere at its worldwide website at www.JohnDeere.com.